


Falling Slowly

by LokiLovesSpock



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel, Marvel Avengers Movies RPF, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Hydra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-22
Updated: 2013-09-29
Packaged: 2017-12-24 07:56:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/937485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LokiLovesSpock/pseuds/LokiLovesSpock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton are sent overseas to Iceland to confront Hydra. After confrontations in Canada and Greenland, a pattern begins to be sensed by the two S.H.I..E.L.D. agents. Whilst completing missions, an on-growing romance begins to be formed between the two.<br/>***WARNING***<br/>MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH.<br/>MAJOR FEELS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter posted every couple of days. Don't worry, smut will be in there soon.

Natasha’s P.O.V.

“Nat, watch out!” Clint’s voice called from behind me. I shot around to find a bullet whizzing past my head. Damn Hydra; always had such bad aim. I bolted toward the gunman, thrusting my fist into his neck, releasing my strongest Widow Bites through his veins. He dropped to the ground in a violently shaking matter. Clint suddenly emerged behind me. I reached for my gun, when Clint’s hand suddenly stopped me.

“I got ‘em.” He said, drawing a bow. He released it as we both watched as it dove into the Hydra agent’s neck, causing his spazing to slow to a stop.  
Silence finally ran through the warehouse. No guns, no groans of pain, just silence.

“Haven’t heard this in a while.” I said softly as we both started toward the exit.

“And what’s that?” Clint raised an eyebrow.

“Silence.” I stated as we reached the door, which was already beaten down. Clint nodded to my statement.  
The sunshine hit our faces, causing us both to squint. The sun in Iceland always seemed to be brighter than back in America. Our shadows followed us as we walked through the abandoned city; hopefully the only thing following us. A voice suddenly emerged in my earpiece.

“Widow, what’s your status?” Agent Hill’s voice called.

“We’re good here.” I answered.

“Take a left two blocks up to the shoreline. A boat should be waiting for you two.”

“Thanks, Hill.” I answered. I always trusted Control. But ever since Coulson was gunned down, I couldn’t bring myself to trust the voice in my ear. And if I’ve learned anything from my life, it’s to never trust anybody.  
Being alone is better than being betrayed.

“You got that, Clint?” I asked.

“Yeup, I heard.” He nodded. “I still have my own earpiece, y’know.”

“Well, it never hurts to double check.” I shrugged, and added a smile. Barton’s one of the only people to actually see me smile. He’s probably the only person anyways.  
Hey, why break the streak?

“You and your fucking double checking.” Clint huffed.

“Hey, you know me.” I answered.

“Maybe not.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“C’mon, Tasha! I’m joking. Loosen up a bit.” I couldn’t do anything but flash another smile. A small clashing noise suddenly echoed between the buildings. I put my hand in front of Clint, stopping him.

“Did you hear th-”

“Yeah. Get down.” He answered quietly. We both bolted behind one of the dusty abandoned buildings. Pressing our backs against the wall, we entered our hiding mode. Breathing slowed, and movements became quick and smooth.  
My hand suddenly felt warmer than usual. I glanced down to find Clint weaving his hand through mine. Our eyes met. It felt as if time had stopped.

“We picked a good building. We had to turn here anyways.” Clint whispered.

“Yes, but we were supposed to turn the other way.” I whispered back.

“Well, you know what that means.” He smiled. I knew exactly what to do. We’ve done this a million times; it was almost starting to feel like a routine.  
We had to run.  
We both took a deep breath in unison. Clint peaked his head around the corner. Bullets shot past his head as he pulled it back.

“What’s it look like?” I asked, clutching his hand.

“Looks like the Russian edition of the M-16. It’s quick…”

“But not as quick as us.” I added. Clint chuckled.

“You betcha.” He nodded his head. “You ready?”

“This’ll be fun.” I answered, bouncing on my toes. And just like that, we were off. Hand-in-hand, side-by-side; running for our lives. Bullets ripped past us. The sound was almost deafening, but hey, we were used to it by now.  
The dust began to rise from the ground where the bullets hit, making it almost impossible to see. Our coughing and hacking rose from our throats in unison, but we kept running.

“I see the boat!” Clint yelled over the sound of the bullets firing. I squinted ahead to find a S.H.I.E.L.D boat bobbing up and down in the water. We ran faster.

“Zay’re getting avay!!” A Hydra agent called in his Russian accent; an accent I could very easily pick out. We ignored it, and kept going.

“Fire ze bombs!! All of zem!!” Another one called.  
Uh-oh.

“Run, Nat!” Clint threw me ahead of him. “Get the boat going!” I obeyed his command and bolted towards it. I heard Barton fire some of his arrows. Yells and shouts were being called everywhere; I could hardly even hear my own thoughts. I reached the boat and my hands threw themselves onto the engine. S.H.I.E.L.D boats were much different from regular boats. They involve settings of speeds, button patterns, and many passwords. Well, here’s the good thing about this situation: I know every password of every S.H.I.E.L.D product ever made.  
And the bad thing?  
There’s so much adrenaline pumping through me right now, I can hardly hit the buttons.  
I suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind me, cursing his face off. I spun around to find Clint in a neck-lock from a Hydra agent. I fumbled for my gun in my thigh holster and aimed.  
Now, here’s another good thing about this situation.  
I’m the Black Widow.  
And I never miss my shot.  
I tightened my finger around the trigger, and nailed the agent right between the eyebrows. Clint struggled free of his grasp as he fell to the ground.

“Behind you, Barton!” I yelled, spotting the Hydra agent bolting toward him. He spun around, and as quick as he always was, sent a flying arrow into his heart. I couldn’t help but give a little smirk. He jumped onto the boat as I finally got it started. Bubbles rose from the water underneath us as we raced off. Explosions suddenly tore up the shore, just missing us. So there were the bombs.

“Fire at zem! Go, go, go!!” Bullets ripped through the water, but they were too late. We were too far away, and they had lost.  
Again.  
We raced through the water, mist coating both of our faces. This was my favorite part; relaxing after the victory of the mission. But the mission is never over, so this couldn’t last for too long.

“No word from base.” Clint broke the silence. I stretched my arms.

“Nothing here either.” I added.

 

“I guess we’ve got some time to ourselves, then.” I chuckled.

“With our job, Barton, we never have time to ourselves.” And as if on cue, Hill’s voice emerged in our ears.

***

Night had arrived, and thank god we had an inside to this boat. It was basically a sailboat with a jet engine. I was in my tank top and black pajama pants, Clint wearing his black sweats with no shirt. And damn, did he look good.

“So you think that Hydra may be making their way to Europe?” Clint asked, bighting into his apple.

“They’ve gotta be. They’ve moved from Canada, to Greenland, and now Iceland.”

“Well, what could be in Europe?”

“Anything! You remember the mission after New York.” I pointed.

“Monsters and Magic, and-“

“Nothing we were ever trained for.” I finished his sentence. He smiled his sweet, kind, warm smile. I happily returned it.  
Off to Europe we go.


	2. Chapter 2

Clint’s P.O.V.

A scream awoke me from my sleep. Not a little scream; a loud, blood curdling shriek. And not just from anyone, either. It was Nat’s scream. Something was wrong,  
Because Nat never screams.  
I threw the sheets off of my body, letting the cold air hit my skin. I flew up and off of the bed.  
  
“Nat!!” I screamed, bolting out of my room. There was no answer. Now I was really beginning to get scared. “Natasha!!” Still nothing. I bolted into her room. Something in my gut told me not to look. I should’ve trusted it. I found myself at her bedside.  
  
“Clint…” she reached for my hand and grabbed it. I moved my gaze down to see a knife handle sticking out from her chest. My breathing stopped.  
  
“Oh my god.” Tears poured out of my eyes, and I let them. Usually when she gets hurt, I hold them back; but not this time. “No, no, no, no, no.” I pleaded, but it was no use.  
  
“Clint, it’s okay.” She said softly. I could feel her strength leaving her.  
  
“Nat…” I leaned forward, and softly pressed my lips to hers, bringing my hand up to her cheek. A small flame flickered inside of my chest as I felt her lips kiss back. Her palm went through my messy hair, weaving between every strand. I pulled back in a smooth motion.  
Our eyes met.  
I couldn’t exactly pick out the emotions behind them. There were so many, but I managed to catch a hint of softness. When suddenly, her eyes fell back. Her grip on my hand faded.  
I couldn’t believe what was lying in my arms. My stomach turned, making me want to throw up.  
  
“C’mon, Nat.” I shook her gently. Nothing. “Tasha, my sweet Tasha.” I sobbed into her neck.  
  
“Nat!!” my eyes suddenly burst open.  
I looked around to find my own bed sheets around me, soaked with sweat.  
I had awakened myself from another fucking nightmare.  
I brought my hands up to rub my tear-stained face. I’ve had many nightmares before. I’ve had dreams where she’s been torn from my arms as I’m forced to watch her die. Where she’s barely hanging onto a thousand-foot mountain, and she slips out of my grasp. Where she dies, to let me live.  
I’ve had many terrible, horrifying dreams before, but this one was different.  
We’ve never kissed before.  
Ever.  
I glanced upward to find Natasha standing in my doorway. I found myself straightening up. My heart jumped a little.  
Wait… what the fuck..?  
Since when did that happen?  
  
“Another nightmare?” she asked. She always seemed to know.  
  
“Yea.” I said, groggily. “Sorry I woke you.”  
  
“I was already awake.” She shrugged, trudging toward my bed. I quietly watched as she sat down on the edge. “You wanna talk about it?”  
  
“Nah. I’m fine.” I waved her off.  
  
“Suit yourself.” She answered to my action. “We’re off to the Island headquarters today.” She said. Then, she was gone. I wanted her to stay. I wanted to hold her, and tell her how broken I was. I wanted to show her that I put up a shield to hide my fears; that being pulled out of your own body,  
Losing your soul,  
Is something that I could never have her experience; even though I know she already has. But, like she’s always said, ‘Love is for children’. And she is the complete opposite of a child  
Loki’s encounter seemed to bring us closer. We had more things to relate to; more things to hate together, more people on our kill list. Even though that big bucket of Loki love would never let us touch him. Everyone seemed to like Thor, though. So why the fuck would I go and screw that up?  
I pulled the sheets away from my body, hissing at the cold air, which was soon covered by my suit. My eyes scanned the fabric, searching for any holes or rips that could have happened yesterday. Nothing, thank god. Hawkeye’s always gotta look badass. I pulled each zipper tight, and secured them. Fights can get messy, so you gotta make sure nothing’s gonna open. Happened once. Let’s just say I got a little gash.  
I snapped my arrow holster behind my right shoulder, and grabbed my thigh holsters. Let’s see…  
Guns; check.  
Arrows; check  
Bow;  
…Do I even have to ask myself that?  
I grabbed my favorite retractable bow, Now, I was ready.  
I jogged up the stairs and outside to see Nat steering the boat.  
  
“Here, lemme do that.” I offered, stepping towards her.  
  
“Nah, it’s good; I got it.” She shrugged. So independent.  
I scanned our surroundings. The sun was rising, painting streaks of red, yellow, and pink in the sky. There was nothing around us but water. No followers, no other boats.  
Alone for the first time in months.  
No clouds were in the sky, creating an easy watch.  
  
“Ready to get this baby up to speed?” I said, patting the boat.  
  
“You bet.” She answered. Her hind went down the control panel; flicking switches and typing codes. Thank god Tasha knew the codes, I don’t have time to learn them all. A roaring emerged from underneath us as we began to speed up. I saw Nat’s hair lift from her shoulders in the corner of my eye.  
  
“It’ll take around 2 days to get to the island.” She yelled over the engine.  
  
“Yea, if we don’t get ambushed.” I added.  
  
“We’re in the middle of nowhere, I highly doubt we will.”  
  
“True, but you-“  
  
“Always gotta be prepared.” She finished my sentence and turned towards me, her lips twitching a little as she forced down a smile. “You always say that.”  
  
“Do I?” I placed my hands on my hips jokingly.  
  
“Mmhm.” She nodded, and turned back to the water. For a while, we didn’t say anything. We just stood there, swimming in our own thoughts (no pun intended). I wondered what she was thinking. I found myself doing that a lot lately. Was she focused on the mission? Or was her mind wandering somewhere else? I shook my head, pulling myself out of my own mind.  
  
"You want something to eat?” I raised an eyebrow at her.  
  
“Sure.” She nodded, keeping her emerald green eyes on the water.  
I hopped down the steps, my arrows making clicking sounds behind me. I couldn’t get my goddamn mind of Natasha. The way her eyes lit up when she smiles, and she doesn’t smile often. Hell, I’ve only seen her smile a few times, but I knew when she was happy. Her lips always twitched. But god, that smile was enough to make a grown man’s heart stop. Then again, I’m not much of a grown man myself.  
The door suddenly burst open.  
  
“Get us underwater!” Nat yelled, running down the stairs.  
  
  
“What? Why?” I dropped the apple I was cutting.  
  
“3 planes. 2 ‘o-clock.” She rushed toward the control panel. I bolted outside as Nat began to convert the ship. That’s right, folks. This bad baby speedboat is also a bad baby sub. A glass dome rose overtop and secured itself on the other side, enclosing the whole boat. The water rose outside. I just caught a glimpse of the three jets before we submerged. Definitely Hydra, judging by the symbol on the side.  
  
“We will.” Nat appeared behind me. “Yes sir.”  
  
“What’s up?” I asked.  
  
“Fury wants us to stay underwater until we get to the island. Also, this is one of those new subs, so it’s equipped with a TRT.”  
  
“Oh yea, those new Tracker Throwoffs.” I pointed.  
  
“Exactly.” She nodded. “I activated it, so we won’t be going that deep. Just deep enough so-“  
  
“They won’t see us from the air.” I finished her sentence. “You still want that apple?”  
  
“Of course.” She answered, and descended down the steps. I sighed, and followed her down.


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha’s P.O.V.

“You said 2 days, right?” Clint asked me as I scrubbed the bits of food off of our recently used dishes.  
  
“Yeup.” I answered. I heard an irritated sigh.  
  
“What the hell are we supposed to do for 2 days?”  
  
“Get through all of that paperwork Hill sent us, I guess.” I shrugged, and dried the last of the dishes with a towel. I walked over and sat beside Clint on the couch.  
  
“Sure, but that doesn’t take a whole 2 days.” He huffed. I said nothing in response. I had no idea what we would do either. Knowing Clint, he would find something to do with our time. He always does.  
  
“I’m sure we could reach the HQ in less time if we sped ‘er up.” Clint said, after a few minutes of silence. I smirked, and stood up to change the speed settings.  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
Clint’s face was inches from mine. I could feel his warm breaths beating against my chin as we stood forehead-to-forehead. I didn’t know what I was doing. Hell, I didn’t even know if he knew what he was doing. It just felt…  
Right.  
  
“Clint… I-” I was stopped by his finger being pushed against my lips. The breath in my throat hitched. Hopefully he didn’t hear that.  
His finger inched its way up to my ear, delicately tracing over the frame as he pushed my hair back. His touch felt like fire beneath my skin; a fire that I had felt many times before, but not like this. Not with such passion. It’s like it was radiating from him.  
He moved his face a little closer.  
I could feel the hesitation in his actions. I know he didn’t want to push me; make me do something I didn’t want to do. But I wasn’t sure what I wanted at this moment. So, I pulled away.  
I saw a flicker of hurt in his eyes. But, I suddenly felt it. A fire burning in my chest, too powerful to ignore. So I did what I felt was right. I stepped towards him swiftly, and crashed my lips against his. He was shocked at first, telling from the tension in his body. But then, he pulled me closer. His touch relaxed as my hands ran down his arms, taking his fingers in mine. His soft tongue dove into my mouth, exploring every inch.  
After what seemed like forever, he pulled away softly for air; still pressing his forehead to mine.  
  
“Tasha…” His voice pulled me out of my trance. Clint placed his hand on my cheek.  
I awoke with a gasp, shooting upright in my bed. I could feel my mess of hair plastered to my face from sleep.  
It was all a dream. A dream that I’ve had countless times before. But this seemed… different. There was something about that dream that allured me like never before. There was a spark in my mind when I thought of him. When I thought of Clint’s lips pressed to mine in the darkness…  
I quickly covered that emotion when I heard a light tap at my door.  
He couldn’t know about this.  
Hell, I didn’t even know if it was a real emotion. Maybe it was just the aftermath of Loki’s attack on Barton. Maybe I was just feeling possessive about him now.  
But this possession couldn’t get in the way of my work. Like I said before, you can’t trust anyone out here. Even if it’s your partner of many years, and your best friend.  
Being alone is better than being betrayed.  
The door slowly opened, revealing Clint standing there in his pajama bottoms.  
  
“I heard something… everything okay?” He said softly and concerned. I couldn’t help the spark of happiness inside of me at the thought that he had come to check on me.  
  
“Yea, just a dream.” I answered, and patted the bed space beside me. He accepted my invitation, and walked over.  
  
“You sure?” He stopped. I nodded with no hesitation. Of course I was sure. Barton was my best friend. He lifted the sheets and laid down beside me. I pulled his arm overtop of me as I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes. I felt his heartbeat. It was pumping at an above average rate.  
…Strange.  
I felt his fingers softly stroking my hair, and finally allowed myself to drift off to the sound of his heart.  
  
  
Clint’s P.O.V.  
  
I slowly opened my eyelids. My neck ached like a bitch. I moved it slowly, when I heard a quiet hum beside me. My gaze dropped to what was in my arms.  
I don’t think I could’ve seen anything more beautiful.  
Tasha was sleeping, her arm draped over my bare chest. Her mouth was open slightly, creating wisps of soft air on my side.  
This is what I loved. I loved her showing me that she trusted me in her most vulnerable state. She doesn’t trust anyone, and knowing her past, it makes sense. But sometimes I catch a quiet flicker of emotion behind the mask she wears when she looks at me, and it’s wondrous.  
She’s faced many struggles throughout her fucked up life, but she always trudged on; which is what I loved about her.  
‘Okay, Barton. Enough with the sappy love shit.’ I thought to myself. I gently lifted her arm from my chest as I slid out from beneath her. I immediately missed the warmth of her body.  
  
“Barton.” Her soft voice called out from behind me as soon as I reached the doorway. I turned around and flashed the sweetest smile I could manage.  
  
“Hey, Tasha.” I gave her a sincere nod, not removing my gaze from her. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. Her face became distant as she brought her finger to her ear. Fucking Control. Always had to come in the best goddamn parts. Her eyebrows suddenly furrowed with concern.  
Something was wrong,  
  
“What do you mean they’re heading for us? Our TRT is activated, and we are in no visible field.” There was silence. “Okay. We’re headed out.”  
  
“What the hell?” I questioned as she jumped out of bed.  
  
“That was the Island HQ. They said they spotted the same 3 jets heading out to approximately where we are. We need to go.” She tugged off her shirt, revealing her black satin bra.  
Jesus.  
“Barton. We need to go.” She repeated, this time more sternly. I tore my gaze from her chest as she pulled on her suit. I nodded, and hurried off to my room to change.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
I hurried out of my room, throwing my bow through my arm and over my shoulder; securing it. I found Nat already putting her wetsuit on, so I followed.  
After all our equipment was on, we turned to the exit chamber.  
  
“Tasha.” I put my hand in front of her. My ears twitched. “Hear that?”  
  
“Yea. It sounds like-” I waved her off, listening.  
Shit.  
  
“We gotta go.” I shoved her towards the exit chambers. Fast.  
  
“Clint! What-”  
  
“Romanov, do not argue with me. Go.” I couldn’t tell her what I had heard. There was no time. I just needed to get her out of there. She made no further comment and obeyed. We both ran the best we could with our flippers and oxygen tanks attached to us. She twisted the wheel on the door, unlocking it. I shoved my breather into my mouth, preparing for an impact. It hit us. Hard. The water knocked Nat back into me. I grabbed her arms and held her in place as best as I could.  
Finally, the water slowed as the tank filled. I pushed Nat ahead of me in the water, shoving her out of the sub first. I followed. She looked back at me but I shook my head ferociously.  
She had to get out of there. She needed to swim. Her trying to risk her life for me made me furious. I swam beside her as fast as I could; keeping up with her pace. When suddenly, there was an impact in the water. I began to spin from the energy, but slowed myself. We both glanced back.  
Our sub was destroyed.  
The debris was either sinking, or floating up to the surface. I sighed with relief that we were far enough away to not get hurt.  
Even the thought of my dearest Natasha being hurt was too much to bare; and I bared that on a regular basis, being on life-threatening missions with her every day.  
I pointed upward as I saw fiery red and yellow explosions in the sky. She lifted her gaze from me, following my finger.  
That must’ve been our backup.  
We swam upwards toward the surface. As soon as our heads popped out of the water, a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet was waiting for us. We pulled ourselves onto deck, speeding away from the wreckage site.  
  
“We headed for your whereabouts as soon as we saw the jets.” An agent whom I didn’t know called from the pilot’s chair. I pulled my breather from my mouth, tasting the fresh air from the open door.  
  
“Good work, gentlemen.” Tasha called. I watched as she stood up, and looked down at me. “Looks like we won’t be getting to that paperwork anytime soon, Clint.” I gave a little chuckle.  
  
“No, ma’am.” I stood with her as we began to work off our wetsuits.


	4. Chapter 4

Natasha’s P.O.V.

Thoughts raced through my head as we neared the Island HQ. Part of me wanted to believe that S.H.I.E.L.D had collected enough sufficient evidence as to what Hydra wanted in Europe. But the other part was starting to doubt that any of us had any idea what was going on.  
As an agent, I was pretty used to this by now. At times, there is no data whatsoever to explain anything; leaving you to act on your gut. 

I was never one who preferred that. I like evidence; it shows proof and reason behind someone’s actions. Clint however was the one who insisted on pushing away data and doing what he believed had reason; not doing what others wanted him to do. For however long I’ve known him, he’s been this way. It was hard to work with at first; but when you get two opposite sides of the equation, they tend to balance each other out; which is why Clint and I work so well together. I guess S.H.I.E.L.D knows that too, or else they would’ve separated us by now. Because sometimes all you need is the perfect equation to solve the problem.

“Team 1, come in.” My earpiece demanded. 

 

“Headed for the Island HQ.” I answered, breaking the silence in the jet.

 

“Agent Crimson will be there to meet you.” Hill answered back.

 

“Agent Crimson? Isn’t he the head of the Black Ops department?” Clint spoke into his earpiece.

 

“He has been stationed at the Island Headquarters for safety concerns. Our offices in Greenland were gunned down; which was where he was stationed for a 1 year contract.” I shook my head. “Estimated 38 dead, 46 injured.”

 

“Jesus.” Clint said to himself. “Goddamn Hydra. Must’ve hit ‘em while they passed through there.”

 

“Duration of stay, Hill?” I inquired.

 

“You two are staying for 2 nights. Then you will be offered a Quinjet to make your way to Europe. More information awaits you at the Headquarters.” 

 

“Thanks, Hill.” I added as the line went cold. Clint’s exhale caused me to lift my gaze to him.

 

“How could we have missed that?” He ran his hands through his hair.

 

“Don’t beat yourself up. It probably happened after we had already gone.” I reassured him. “They planned it that way. There’s nothing we could’ve done.” He shrugged and lifted his eyes to the window. 

 

“Approaching Headquarters. Prepare for landing.” The pilot called to us. I couldn’t tear my gaze from Clint. I could see him silently blaming himself; shame flickering in his eyes. 

***

The door was pulled open for us as we climbed out; revealing Agent Crimson waiting patiently.

 

“Agent Barton, Agent Romanov.” He bowed his head in greeting. “Always a pleasure.”

 

“Likewise.” Clint yelled over the engine of the jet. “Have you got any information for us regarding the recent attacks with Hydra?” Crimson nodded to the statement, and motioned for us to follow him inside.

We were lead down a dark corridor; much like the layout of the Helicarrier. A few wall lights lit our path as we walked and reached the elevator at the end of the hall.

 

“We’ve been looking into Hydra occurrences in Europe, and found a few things.” Crimson said, handing us a blank cream-colored folder. Clint groaned at the sight of having to do reading. I took it happily.

 

“Thank you.” I said, shooting Clint a look. “What seemed to stick out so far?”

 

“Well, we’ve noticed major purchases of Uranium and Plutonium, as well as illegal purchasing of multiple Detonating Heads.” 

 

“Wait a second, those are the major ingredients of a-”

 

“Yes, Barton. We are well aware of what they are creating.” I snickered as Clint raised his hands in a surrendering motion. “We are in need of you two to figure out why the creation of this is taking place.”  
Silence swept over Barton and I. “You two know Hydra more than anyone in this unit.”  
Finally, I spoke up.

 

“Well, I’m sure we can make ourselves useful in that area.” I shrugged,

 

“Good.” Crimson nodded. The elevator doors split open; revealing yet another dark corridor with multiple doors along the sides. “You two will be staying in the last two rooms. The main deck is on floor 5. Your belongings should be there already.” We stepped out, letting the doors whir to a close behind us.

 

***

 

A knock emerged from the door that joined our rooms. I laid down the file I had been assessing, and trudged over to open it.

 

“Fucking Crimson!” Clint burst into my room as soon as I had opened the door; his strides toward my bed long and fast as he threw his hands up into the air. “All I was doing was pointing out what the products were used in.”

 

“Hey, you know him. He knows everything about every weapon made. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.” I answered, walking back to my bed and sitting down. Clint picked up the file.

 

“What did you pick out so far?” He asked.

 

“I noticed multiple homicides on the workers in the Russian Nuclear Power Plant.” I pointed to the paragraph on one of the pages. “I’m assuming that Hydra was killing them to take their place; scout the building.”

 

“What would Hydra want with a Nuclear Power Plant?”

 

“Anything.” I shrugged. “Ingredients for what they’re building, maybe.” Clint shook his head to my statement.

 

“No, they already have most of the products they need. Except for one…” He paused. My eyes widened.

 

“The Neutron Deflector…” I added.

 

“And they only make those in America.” Clint said cautiously. “What if… What if the American Hydra branches are shipping the Deflector to the European Hydra branches? That’s the last product they need in order to complete it.” I thought for a second. Then, it all hit me at once.

 

“Oh my god…” I rubbed my forehead. 

 

“What is it?” Clint’s gaze shot up to my face.

 

“Hydra was finding their way into the Nuclear Power Plant. But why? Because they needed to find a place to set off their ‘creation’. And once the American Hydra teams reach wherever they’re building this thing, it’s over. We need to find that Deflector and destroy it.”

Hydra was making a Nuclear Bomb.  
To blow up a Nuclear Power Plant.  
Causing millions to die.

 

“But why the Nuclear bomb? Why go through all the extra trouble when the Power Plant is full of Nuclear waste anyways?” Clint asked.

 

“To maximize the radiation. With double the radiation, the effects can go thousands of miles further. It could reach Germany. That’s wiping out dozens of countries, Clint.”

 

“But it couldn’t possibly reach that far. They’re in European Russia… Germany’s too far.”

 

“Clint.” I said more sternly. “This is double the radiation we’re talking about. The Power Plant would have enough radiation to reach Ukraine. With two times that, it would reach Germany no problem; wiping out millions of people.” He didn’t say anything, but instead dropped his face into his hands and rubbed. “And that one Deflector is the only thing stopping this from happening.” He suddenly raised his head up in a quick motion, causing me to fall back a little.

 

“With radiation levels of that high, they would need an invincible metal.” He pointed. I stopped to think. He was right. Any other metal than what popped into my head wouldn’t be able to stand any kind of radiation.

 

“Vibranium.” I stated. Clint inhaled sharply, making a gasping sound.

 

“With as much little Vibranium as we have, it would only be possible to make one Deflector. So if we destroy it…”

 

“They can’t make another one. Their plan’s gone.” I added. Silence finally echoed through the room. We had finally figured it out. But now the problem was trying to find the Deflector. That was the last piece of their puzzle, and if we got our hands on it, they would lose.  
I drew my head out of my daze to find that Clint was staring at me, smiling. I bit back the urge to jump on him and kiss every inch of skin that was showing to congratulate our discovery. 

 

“I can’t believe you figured all of this out on your own, Tasha” He smiled even wider, causing my stomach to flop over.

 

“Hey, you helped.” I raised an eyebrow as he shrugged. A yawn crept up on me, and I was unable to hold it back.

 

“You should go to bed, Nat.” He turned away from me, scooting off the bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” He looked at me with such anticipation that I couldn’t crack any kind of joke, but just give him the answer that he hoped to hear.  
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” I answered back, giving a slight upward turn of the lips. He spun on his heel, and headed toward his room.


	5. Chapter 5

Clint’s P.O.V.

My eyes slowly pried themselves open. God, another day doing nothing. I wanted to be out in the action with Nat, not stuck in some dumb facility for another day. 

Working with Natasha, fighting enemies together, that’s what I love most. It gives me a rush of exhilaration that I’ve never felt with anything or anybody else.  
On the days that I can’t breathe, and on the days that I hide behind a mask while I’m dying inside, sometimes all I need is to watch Nat kick the shit out of some Hydra agent and then it all feels okay again; because I know that I have her. When I feel fucked up, and when I feel like not doing shit, she’s all I need. Sometimes it’s like she is the air in my lungs, but then I remember that my lungs aren’t worthy of breathing that perfect of a molecule. So hey, why not just stick to the good old Oxygen?  
Low-lives share the same air, and I’m no different than them.

I glanced over to the clock on the corner of the dust-coated bedside table. 

“Shit!” My voice cracked as I literally flew out of bed.  
I’d overslept…  
Again.

 

***

 

“Agent Barton.” I was coldly greeted by agent Crimson as I entered the main deck. Obviously a result from my lack of proper timekeeping.

“Hey.” I gave a little head nod. I scanned my surroundings. Not much to see here, unless you’re interested in office-looking shit. Many long tables framed the room, each filled with personal belongings of the agents who occupied them, and each’s space consumed by monster computers. The agents staring at the screens looked almost dead. Dark circles filled the space under their eyes, and the room was often jam-packed with frequent yawns. 

“Agent Barton, we need you to work lookout today.” Agent Crimson said, interrupting my train of thoughts. A small groan couldn’t help but escape my mouth. Crimson sighed. “It’s not that terrible, Barton. Plus, you’ve got the best eyes in the field.”

“They do call me Hawkeye for a reason.” I shrugged. I caught a nod from Crimson through the corner of my eye.

“Romanov is already present at the tower. Report there.” 

“Mmk.” I mumbled. It was almost impossible to contain my grin, and as I turned around to walk out, it escaped and glued itself onto my face.  
I found myself sprinting to the lookout tower just to get there faster. I couldn’t stand being out of her company for another second.  
When finally, I arrived at my destination.

“You’re extremely late, Agent.” Nat greeted me as I threw the door open with most of the strength left in me. I used the other half to hold back the urge to pounce on top of her and kiss her until I saw stars. 

“Overslept… oops.” I shrugged, and then proceeded to receive a small jab in my ribs from Nat’s elbow.

“Never on time.” She shook her head playfully. I said nothing, but just smiled in return. Something seemed to spark inside of me whenever she joked around. Natasha’s had such a mortifying life, yet she’s still able to forget it all and turn to the little happiness that she’s in possession of. 

The skies seemed mostly clear; except for a few clouds; but nothing unusual. The Base was clear too; which meant that we got to relax for a while.  
Nothin’ like sitting back and kicking off your shoes while on a government Base.

 

***

 

The day dragged on. I cherish every moment spent with Natasha, but man, was this ever a boring-ass day.  
And believe me when I say that I’ve had my share of boring-ass days.

And then my share of amazing-ass days.

And then my share of amazing asses.  
…

“Clint.” Nat snapped her fingers at me, awaking me a little more. Not that I wasn’t awake before, thinking of Tasha’s goddamn fine ass. 

“Sorry.” I shook my head. After our hours of nothing we did at the lookout tower, we were sent to our quarters for dinner. We decided to eat in her room.  
And man, was I having a hard time containing myself this time.  
Nat was in her black tank top again, the same one she wore on the sub. That tank top always seemed to get a rise out of me. Along with those butt-hugging pajama pants. ‘God, get a grip, Barton. You’re disgusting.’ I thought to myself.

She gave me a small half-smile in response to my apology. My heart probably just ran away. I had to tell her. She needed to know how I felt. Keeping secrets from your best friend is like taking a bone from a dog; it’ll find it eventually; which is why I needed to tell her now.  
And fast.  
Before regret started to seep in; shoving the emotion even deeper into the back of my brain, never to see the light of day. I took a deep breath.

“Natasha…” I smashed down the brick walls keeping my eyes down, and looked up at her; sitting across the table, twirling spaghetti on her fork. As soon as her name slipped my lips, she met my eyes with hers; concern filling them.

“Clint… I know that tone. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! No, it’s just…” I trailed off, breaking eye contact and turning to a piece of lint on the floor that I found particularly interesting at the moment. 

“Barton.” She said firmly. Her tone sent shivers down my spine. “Tell me what’s wrong. Have you been compromised?”

“No! No…” I shook my head ferociously. My head shot up as I suddenly felt her hand being placed on top of mine.

“C’mon, Clint. Something’s up.” She cocked her head to the side in an inquisitive manner. I couldn’t help but focus all of my energy to where her skin contacted mine. It’s almost like every single ridge and dip in my skin; every area of emptiness, was filled with hers.  
I looked back up again, and met her intense stare. 

This was it.

“Natasha… I-”

Knock Knock.

And of course I was interrupted by the door. 

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” I said under my breath. We both rose from our seats, and walked to the door.

“Oh… I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Agent Barton.” Crimson gave me a very surprised look when I opened the door to allow our gazes to meet. “I wished to speak to Agent Romanov… Of course I can come back another time if you two are…busy.” I bit back anger when I heard the tone he placed on his last word. My jaw clenched. 

“No, please! Go right ahead.” I stepped a backward a little, my hand giving the ‘come on in’ motion. Of course it was a shit-lie. I didn’t know however, that Nat was standing right behind me; so I had stepped back to reveal her.  
Crimson’s face went pale when he saw her.

Shit.

I had forgotten she was in her pajamas. 

“No, in fact we are a little busy discussing the mission, so if you could please, come back another time?” She said with a most respectful tone, stepping in front of me. Obviously she could sense my anger from two miles away. Crimson gave a small nod.

“Of course.” I found myself in front of Nat as he walked away, leaving us out of his field of view.  
I closed the door, locking it. 

“What the hell was that, Clint?” She hardly got through her sentence before I spun around; closing the space between us, but still leaving enough so our lips weren’t touching. Her gasp caught me off guard, and before I could even think about what I was doing, I softly touched my lips against hers and caressed them.  
So many emotions were flowing through my head at the moment I couldn’t even think straight. I just focused on her lips against mine.  
When it hit me all at once.  
She wasn’t kissing back. In fact, she wasn’t even moving.

She didn’t want this

I tore my lips away from her with so much force that I staggered back.  
Nat didn’t want this. At least not with me, anyway. Who was I kidding? I wasn’t gonna force her into something she didn’t want. In fact, I don’t even think she liked me in that way.  
I turned quickly to face away from her.

“I’m sorry…” I whispered, staring at the floor shaking my head.

“Clint… I-”

“I shouldn’t have done that.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I could hear Nat take a breath to say something, but stopped. My hands angrily threw open the joining door to my quarters.

And with that, I was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Been super busy with school. But here she is... and I made this chapter a little longer, just for a treat ;) Enjoy.

Natasha’s P.O.V.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” My head rushed with a river of emotions. Clint inhaled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He spun to face his room without making eye contact. I took a breath, but stopped. What was I supposed to say? ‘Clint, I’m sorry to be the one to throw your heart on the ground and stomp on it until my leg goes as numb as your soul must feel.’?  
The slam of the door made me jump a little.  
I couldn’t move. It was like my feet had been cemented into the ground. All these years… everything that we’ve been through; for this entire time, that was what he felt. In fact, that must’ve been what he was going to tell me.  
I gasped, but then slapped my hand over my mouth to avoid making noise.

The hand holding, the screaming my name in the middle of his sleep and then not wanting to talk about it, the pushing me ahead of him while our sub exploded into a million pieces: this is what he was going to tell me.  
It all fit together now. Like some sort of twisted, demented puzzle.  
Clint had feelings for me. 

I fell onto my bed and slumped my shoulders. My brows furrowed with sudden regret. All those years of saying ‘love is for children’, I was stabbing him in the heart. 

I threw my head onto the pillow and shut off the lamp. I couldn’t deal with this right now. 

 

***

 

I entered the main deck with my normal strut of confidence. If there were any double agents here, you gotta intimidate them from the very start. The greeting of emergency lights flashing everywhere however, was not a good start to the day.  
I quickly ducked behind a wall near the entrance, and observed my surroundings.

The lights were dimmed, with red and white emergency flashes everywhere. Somewhere, there was a distant alarm going off. Papers were scattered everywhere, along with knocked-over tables, computers and chairs. 

What the hell had gone on in here?

I glanced a little sideways to see a group of desk-workers, each one wearing a fear-covered face; looking at me with the ‘Help us’ look in their eyes. 

Great.

I suddenly was knocked forward, into the line of fire. Bullets tore past me. I scooted back to the wall to face my attacker.  
It was Crimson.

“Crimson!” I whispered. “What the hell?”

 

“Sorry, Romanov. I had a little too much momentum from running, ran right into you.” I sensed a lie.

“What happened here?! I thought the Island was supposed to be safe!” 

“We thought it was. We were ambushed.” He answered. Another lie… what was he up to?

“Any details?” I demanded.

“Nothing. The Helicarrier is trying to assess the situation, and teams are already on their way to our location.” I stood up from the ground, preparing myself.

“We don’t have that kind of time.” I mumbled back to him, as he followed my actions, standing up.

“What are you going to do?”

“The only thing I know how to do.” I glanced at him, catching his face of curiosity. 

I ran out from behind the wall, feeling the wind of bullets flying past me. A large, wide metal shelf caught my eye. I bolted towards it; improvising. My hands threw themselves onto it, yanking it with all my strength as a yell escaped my mouth. The shelf came crashing down, blocking the line of fire.

“Go!!” I yelled to the desk-workers. They didn’t hesitate, and scurried out of the room. I caught up to Crimson as we exited together. His fingers worked away at a control panel, closing a large metal door to the main deck. A communicator was pulled out.

“All personnel evacuate premises immediately; this is not a drill. Repeat; this is not a drill. Evacuate premises immediately. Emergency teams are on their way to this location.” Crimson spoke into the microphone, allowing it to echo around us; I’m assuming all around the base as well. He turned towards me, and pulled my wrist along.

“We need to leave. Now.” His voice had changed. Something was different…

“What? Crimson, we need to get Barton.” I said, trying to wriggle out of his grasp, only realizing that he tightened it even more.

“I’ll take care of him. You need to go.” His voice was stern. 

“No! Lemme go…” I squirmed as he turned to face me, his eyes filled with some sort of evil emotion.

Oh shit.

I immediately threw my hardest punch with my free hand, landing it on his cheek. He yelled with agony. I squirmed out of his grip, and dashed away from him.  
A sudden yell in Russian caused me to skid to a halt. I looked back at Crimson with such horror, to find that he was staring at me, holding his cheek. 

There was no time for thinking, so I began to run again; this time, faster than before.

 

***

 

I threw the door to Clint’s room open, to find Clint being held in mid-air from the neck by one Hydra agent, the other pointing a gun at him.

“No!!” I screamed as all heads suddenly whipped toward me. The gun suddenly faced me as I bolted towards the agent, and roundhouse-kicked him in his side. The gun fired as the agent went down, sending jolts of pain up my leg.

“Ow! Shit!” I screamed, glancing down at my shot leg to see that the blood had already started pouring out.  
I ignored the pain, and shoved my heel into the agent’s neck, hearing that familiar cracking sound, symbolizing that he was dead. I spun around to find Clint pointing an arrow at the other agent, lying on the ground.

“Clint, stop!” I screamed. He looked up at me with confusion, and after a few moments of hesitation, redrew his bow. I marched over to the agent, and grabbed him by his collar.

“Who are you working for?!” I screamed in his face, but then I remembered: they probably only speak Russian. “S kem ty rabotayesh'?!” I said again, this time in Russian.

“YA skoreye umru, chem skazhu!” He answered back. I wasn’t about to back down. 

“I will pull your insides out, each organ one by one, with you alive. Now tell me, goddamnit!!” I screamed again, and then repeated in Russian. He waited a moment, but finally answered.

“My nikogda ne skazhet nam svoye imya, no on idet na DA . On nosit masku , i ya videl yego tol'ko raz v litso . U nego net russkogo aktsenta , tak chto on , ochevidno, ne iz Rossii.” I nodded, and stepped back to let Clint finish the job. He drew his arrow. “Net! Pozhaluysta!” The typical cries of ‘no’, and ‘please’ had almost become invisible to us. Clint’s arrow drove into his neck. 

“What did he say?” Clint asked as we started out of the room.

“He said- ah! Shit!” I had forgotten about my leg. Without hesitation, Clint’s arm was around me, helping me run alongside with him.

“We’ve gotta get to the flight deck somehow!” He said. Another requirement of becoming an agent, you have to memorize the floor plans of every S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

“Already ahead of you.” I said, between my pain-gritted teeth.

I managed to guide us out to the deck, and Barton, thank goodness he can fly because I would be no good with my leg, flew us out. 

“So what did he say?” Clint asked again, as I wrapped my wound. 

“He said that nobody knows his name, but he goes by DE, and that he always wears a mask. There’s also no Russian accent when he speaks it, so he’s not Russian.” I answered. 

There was a long pause of silence before I explained what had happened with Crimson.  
I told Barton everything: from the push, to the grabbing of my wrist, to the scream in Russian. Every little, minor detail, I told to him.  
There was another pause of silence before he spoke.

“So… what do you think?” He asked, looking back at me. I shrugged, avoiding eye contact and staring at the ground.

“I’m not sure. I think it’s too early to decide whether or not he’s DE, but it confirms that he’s a double agent.”  
There was another awkward pause. I was really starting to get sick of this.  
Just as I was about to say something, I felt the quinjet descend.

“What the hell?” I answered looking up to the windows. We were landing on a sand-bar; in the middle of nowhere.  
Clint stood up from the chair, his eyes fixed on me. I gulped. He strode towards where I was sitting, and sat directly across from me; not leaving much space between us.

“We need to talk about us.” He said, staring intently at me.

“What’s to say?” I threw my hands up, frustration already filling me. “You’ve made it pretty clear how you’ve felt for all this time.” I immediately regretted saying that when I saw the look in his eyes. He changed his gaze, now fixated on the floor. I shook my head. “I’m sorry.” There was silence.

“No, I’m sorry.” His gaze changed to me, and he shifted onto his knees; leaning towards me. His hand was placed on my good leg. “I forced you. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m a fucking idiot for thinking that you could feel the same way.” His eyes flashed with sadness for a split second, but was then hidden away, and he was suddenly back to his original sitting position; legs crossed, staring at the floor.

“I…” I didn’t know what to say. In fact, I didn’t even know how I felt about Clint anymore. All of my thoughts focused on last night. His strength when he kissed me, the passion in his lips, the way he looked at me before it all happened.  
Ugh… this sucked. 

“Nat… say something.” Clint’s voice called me. When, I suddenly felt it. My passion for him; my drive to do amazing things with him; like save the world from Aliens that has possessed him. Clint was my rock, he had always been. I stopped myself. I couldn’t do this. He could be a double agent, for all I know. Like I’ve said before,

Being alone is better than being betrayed.

And I know a thing or two about both things. 

“Just… fly. Get us to Europe.” I said softly, and stared at my hands. I could feel his heart-breaking stare on me. For a while, his eyes were fixed on me while I stared down. 

Finally, he stood up, and started the engine.


End file.
